The story
Goodman Group was founded as A.S. Paterson & Co. ltd in Dunedin in 1886 as a general importing firm by Scottish-born businessman and philanthropist Alexander Stronach Paterson. It was listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in 1949 and would come to focus mainly on the grocery business. The firm was renamed as Goodman Group in 1979 after Paterson's grandson Alex was ousted as chairman in 1976 by "dissatisfied baking interests".
Goodman Fielder was founded in 1986 after the merger of Allied Mills Ltd and Goodman Group Ltd. Since the merger in 1986, the company has purchased a further 13 companies. The company was taken over by Burns Philp in 2003.
Goodman Fielder was re-listed on the share market at the end of 2005 with Burns Philp retaining a 20% share (subsequently sold in 2007). As part of the IPO, New Zealand Dairy Foods brands Meadowfresh, Tararua, Kiwi, Huttons, Anchor Cheese (under licence), Top Hat and Puhoi cheese became part of Goodman Fielder.
The Uncle Tobys and Bluebird snack food businesses of the "original" Goodman Fielder were not included in the float, the former being sold to Nestlé and the latter to PepsiCo.
Chris Delaney, the former Asia Pacific President of Campbell's, was Goodman Fielder's CEO from 4 July 2011. He resigned following a takeover of the company by Wilmar International and First Pacific joint-venture in March 2015 for $1.3 billion Australian dollars.
Goodman Fielder's CEO was Scott Weitemeyer, until the takeover by Wilmar International.
In 2019, Wilmar International acquired First Pacific's 50% share in the company.
From Wikipedia’s article on Goodman Fielder, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4